The present invention relates generally to the field of customized services, and more specifically to the problems of creating, testing, validating, and provisioning customized telecommunication services.
The incorporated patent applications describe a system and method for creating and executing customized telecommunication services tailored to subscribers' or customers' needs. The system of the set of incorporated patent applications includes a service creation environment for creating customized telephone services and a service execution environment for executing the telephone services. The service creation environment includes a graphical user interface which permits a user to build and/or change a displayed graphical representation of a desired service using "nodes," "decision boxes," and "branches". Each node represents a high level instruction for the execution of the service. The displayed graphical representation of the service is translated to a binary representation and stored as a call processing record (CPR). CPRs are transmitted from a creation environment to an execution environment where they are executed during call processing operations to send call processing instructions to inquiring switches.
The system and method for creating and executing customized telephone services described in the set of incorporated patent applications are described as being implemented in the Advanced Intelligent Telephone Network (AIN).
FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary AIN comprising System Service Points (SSPs) 30, 35, 40, and 45, Signal Transfer Points (STPs) 48 and 50, Service Control Points (SCPs) 10 and 20, and Service Management Systems (SMS) 60 (only one shown). SSPs are central office switching systems which receive telephone calls from telephones 12. Each SSP recognizes a variety of "triggers" within customer telephone call signals and generates queries to SCPs based on the triggers. The SSPs then process customer calls in response to commands received from the SCPs.
The SCPs communicate with the SSPs over a common-channel-signalling (CCS) network 67 that includes STPs 48 and 50. The CCS network 67 employs communication channels separate from channels used to transport customer voice signals and includes a packet-switching system. The CCS network 67 switches data in packets instead of allocating circuits for the duration of a call. The STPs 48 and 50 provide the packet-switching functions.
Each SCP is fault tolerant because each SCP includes processors connected through dual local-area networks (not shown). If one processor of an SCP fails, another processor of the SCP can ensure that the SCP continues to function. Further, SCPs are configured as a mutually mated pair in different locations. If an SCP, such as SCP 10, is disabled, its mate, SCP 20, can ensure that telephone service continues without interruption.
Associated with each SCP or each pair of SCPs is an SMS 60. An SMS 60 provides a support interface through which customer data and service logic can be added or managed.
The set of incorporated patent applications also disclose techniques for testing and validating CPRs that have been created at a creation environment. Testing of a CPR provides a visual indication on a displayed graphical representation (graph) of the CPR of the execution path taken through the CPR during a call processing operation. The visual indication is described in one embodiment as a red line trace of the paths connecting the nodes of a displayed graph. Validating a CPR involves detecting logical infractions in the processing routine of the CPR and identifying these infractions to an operator based on a set of rules and a knowledge base understood by an expert system.
As discussed, the set of incorporated patent applications describe a system and method for graphically creating CPRs using a plurality of nodes. A service creator is free to use any available nodes to create any desired service. The flexibility offered by this freedom is very beneficial to customers, particularly those with unique service requirements.
Some service providers, however, may wish to maintain a higher degree of control over services that they make available. For example, they may wish to restrict the use of certain nodes to their customers or to offer only certain types of services to certain types of customers.
Moreover, an operating company may offer a substantially similar service to numerous customers. It is expensive and inefficient to build substantially the same graph to provide each customer with substantially the same service. Hence, it would be beneficial to an operating company to be able to provide a specification for a service from which numerous similar graphs could be generated, but with enough flexibility to cater to each customer's individual needs. For example, an operating company may determine that many of its customers are interested in a service that permits the customer to specify the carrier for long distance calls associated with the customer's "800" number. This service would be similar for each customer and would require certain nodes (such as carrier nodes) in each customer's CPR. However, larger businesses may want additional features from such a service. For example, they may want to provide for different carriers during different times of the day. It would therefore be beneficial to the operating company to be able to offer a basic 800 service and an enhanced 800 service wherein each service is partially predefined, yet flexible enough to permit some customization by the individual customers.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a general service specification that allows a service creator to define a service, but permits a user enough flexibility to customize the service to some degree.
It is also desirable to permit a service creator to define a service specification in which certain predetermined nodes are mandatory, certain predetermined nodes are optional, and certain predetermined nodes are restricted.
It is also desirable to associate a general service specification with a plurality of CPRs.
Additional desires of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.